Our beloved Nana, Thalua Marie (Bearden) Garner, went to be with her Lord on Sept. 22, 2016.
Friends and family visitation will be held from 4 to 5 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 25, 2016, at Krestridge Funeral Home in Levelland, Texas. Graveside services will be held at 2 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 26, 2016, in the Peaceful Gardens Cemetery in Woodrow with Rev. Sammy Elliott of the First Baptist Church in Levelland officiating.
Thalua was born on Jan. 10, 1927, in Hale County, Texas, to C.A. and Zuma (Coe) Bearden. She graduated from O’Donnell High School in 1943 and moved to the Union Community near Brownfield where she met the love of her life, Alton Garner. They married on Sept. 11, 1948.
Thalua taught school for several years in rural communities around Brownfield and began secretarial work in Plains and Brownfield while Alton was overseas during the Korean War. She then joined him in the abstracting business in Littlefield and Perryton. She enjoyed a 19 year career as a legal secretary and trust officer at First National Bank in Perryton working for a most favorite boss, Bruce Julian. In 1991, Thalua and Alton moved to Levelland where she spent wonderful retirement years attending school programs, ballgames, birthday parties, and holiday dinners with her grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Thalua volunteered in the church library for many of those retirement years, and she and Alton restored tractors. They were active members of the South Plains Antique Tractor Association.
Thalua is preceded in death by her parents; two children stillborn, Charlotte Ann and Paul Douglas; four sisters, Loys Stephens, Mamie Lamb, Vera McKee, and Ethel McKee; and one brother, Sterling Bearden. She is survived by her husband and one daughter, Jennifer Morgan and husband, Neal, of Lubbock; two grandchildren, Rachel (Morgan) Fernihough and husband, David of Lubbock, Jim Morgan and wife, Rachel of Heath; five great-grandchildren, Joseph, Lauren, and Nora Fernihough, and Clay and Harper Morgan. She is also survived by one sister, Lena Franks of Midland; bonus sisters whom she lived with the year Alton was in Korea, Carol Ann (Garner) Stokes of Brownfield and Marcia (Garner) Polsgrove of Fort Worth; and one sister-in-law, Sheron Daniel of Lubbock. We want to thank Nana’s caregivers at Covenant Levelland Hospital, Promiseland II Assisted Living in Lubbock, and Hospice of Lubbock for your most loving care. Contributions are suggested to Hospice of Lubbock, 3702 21st Street, Lubbock, TX 79410. The family invites you to leave a message or memory at www.krestridgefuneralhometx.com.
